Damon Hill rejected Ferrari over Michael Schumacher demand

Damon Hill admitted he spoke with former Ferrari boss Jean Todt about joining the team, but was made an “offer that you have to refuse”.

Hill said that if he joined Ferrari, it would have been as the number two driver to former title rival Michael Schumacher. Hill could not accept such a term, though joked that he “must have dreamt it” all, as Todt claims no recollection of their meeting.

Damon Hill: The Ferrari offer he had to refuse

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Having won the world championship in 1996, the year Schumacher joined Ferrari, Hill recalls that he had discussions to become the German’s teammate at Ferrari.

Speaking on the Stay on Track podcast, Hill’s reflection began when co-host, and three-time grand prix winner, Johnny Herbert, asked whether he would have ever driven for Ferrari.

“I can imagine there might have been a situation,” he said.

“I mean, I had, a basically fundamental rule, which was, I want to be in the best car, with the best chance of success.

“So, you know, if it had been one of the best cars…”

But, he claims the terms offered to Hill by then-Ferrari team principal Jean Todt would have broken his golden rule.

“I turned them down,” he revealed.

“Because, I needed a drive, and Jean Todt said, come and have a word, and we’ll talk about it loosely.

“And so I did go to Italy, and I met him at a house. He said, ‘You’d have to be number two to Michael’.”

As such, Hill said that was why he rejected a “very generous offer”.

He added: “It’s not an offer you can’t refuse, is it? It’s an offer you have to refuse.”

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It is an offer, however, which Jean Todt does not recall, says Hill.

“I mean, maybe I should have done it,” he quipped. “Maybe I should have just gone.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter, because someone asked Jean Todt that years ago, and he denied that I ever went and spoke with him. I must have dreamt it!”

Despite winning the 1996 title title, Hill was dropped by Williams and replaced with Heinz-Harald Frentzen for 1997.

After subsequent stints with Arrows and Jordan, he retired from F1 following the 1999 season.

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